Robinson leads No. 15 Oklahoma State past A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas(AP) -- Oklahoma State salvaged a bad week
with a huge victory.

Zac Robinson threw two touchdown passes and the 15th-ranked
Cowboys overcame the absence of their top two playmakers to beat
Texas A&M 36-31 on Saturday.

Oklahoma State (4-1, 1-0 Big 12) played without All-America
receiver Dez Bryant, who was ruled ineligible by the school this
week for lying to the NCAA about contact he made with a former
NFL player. Oklahoma State was also missing Kendall Hunter, the
Big 12's leading rusher in 2008, who sat out with an ankle
injury.

Robinson completed 14 of 25 passes for 279 yards, Keith Toston
ran for 130 yards and Beau Johnson ran for two scores as the
Cowboys won at Kyle Field for only the second time since 1983.

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said the win was equal in
importance, all things considered, to the Cowboys'
season-opening 24-10 win over then-No. 13 Georgia.

"I'd say it's pretty comparable," Gundy said. "The players
practiced as good on Wednesday and Thursday as they did all
year. They can be very resilient at times."

On top of the news about Bryant and injuries to Hunter and other
key players, Robinson found out on Wednesday that his
87-year-old grandfather had died of cancer.

"It was a heck of a week," Robinson said. "Any time there are
distractions and things that go on that you can't control, you
find out a lot about yourself and your team. I couldn't be more
proud of how everybody responded to it, stayed loose and just
kind of kept playing."

Jerrod Johnson threw three touchdown passes for the Aggies (3-2,
0-1) and set a Big 12 record by extending his streak of
consecutive passes without an interception to 228. But Johnson
faced constant pressure and was sacked four times and the
Aggies, who came in with the nation's second-ranked offense,
were held to 382 yards.

Leading 29-25 early in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys put it
away with a 16-play, 93-yard touchdown drive that chewed up
almost eight minutes. Robinson converted two third downs with
long passes and Beau Johnson scored with 7:15 left in the game.

Jerrod Johnson found Howard Morrow in the end zone with 3:35
left, but the two-point conversion try failed and A&M trailed
36-31. Oklahoma State regained possession and Toston picked up
two yards on a fourth-and-1 with two minutes left.

Gundy didn't see any risk going for the first down at the
critical moment.

"That's a running play we work a lot, we've run it 500 times the
last two years," Gundy said. "We just wanted to control our own
destiny."

Robinson went 6-for-14 with an interception in the first half,
then completed three of his first five throws in the third
quarter, including a 51-yard touchdown pass to Tracy Moore.

Oklahoma State was whistled for two personal fouls on A&M's next
series, setting up the Aggies inside the 10-yard line. Freshman
Christine Michael scored on a third-down run to put A&M back on
top.

Perrish Cox, who missed the Cowboys' last game with a sprained
shoulder, returned the ensuing kickoff 45 yards to midfield.
After Robinson completed a 32-yard pass to Justin Blackmon, Beau
Johnson scored on a 1-yard run and Toston added a two-point
conversion run for a 29-22 lead.

Toston, a senior, carried 26 times after rushing a total of 46
times in the Cowboys' first four games.

"I have no doubt in my mind what I can do," Toston said.

Randy Bullock booted a 50-yard field goal on the first play of
the fourth quarter, the longest by an A&M kicker since 2000.

The Cowboys drove to the A&M 6 in the first quarter, but a pack
of Aggies stuffed Robinson at the line on fourth-and-1.

Oklahoma State started its next series at midfield and Toston
took a screen pass 40 yards to the A&M 3, setting up Robinson's
touchdown run.

Jerrod Johnson scampered 12 yards for a first down early in the
second quarter. Under pressure again, Johnson found Uzoma
Nwachukwu over the middle for a 28-yard touchdown. Receiver Ryan
Tannehill, the holder on extra-point kicks, bobbled the snap and
ran to the end zone for an unplanned two-point conversion.

Later in the second quarter, A&M got help from a pass
interference call and Johnson threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to
Jamie McCoy. Less than two minutes later, Robinson threw a
27-yard touchdown pass to Hubert Anyiam.